Way to go, Norman

The Norman Transcript

We applaud Mayor Harold Haralson upon the decision for Norman to "go green" by approving the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement and the commitment to strive to meet Kyoto Protocol goals. Way to go. We discovered this good news in The Oklahoma Gazette on the week of Oct. 19, which carried an article by Keith Gaddie titled "The Green Patch of Oklahoma." We both hope beyond hope that Norman is serious about this.

Sue was recently honored by the Norman Chamber of Commerce for her achievement in art. That recognition by the local business community was very encouraging -- as was the discovery that the Chamber has been recognizing artists' contributions to our community for quite a number of years now. That made us quite glad we live here in Norman, but now, hearing that Norman has "gone green," we're even more appreciative and more hopeful for the future of this town.

As artists, we have a vested interest in living in a people-oriented sort of place. It's just good business sense for an artist to live and work in such a location. A place where people and people-oriented business come first (before gigantic mega-corporations), the ability to move about town via mass transit, bike riding trails and the ability to walk about to shop with mom-and-pop businesses who care about their customers, employees and the community.

It goes almost without saying that the arts, galleries, music, fine dining, beautiful "green" scenery, unique architecture and access to recreation are all a part of a people-oriented town. If one is in the arts, living in such a town is essential to basic business operations. Quality air, water and green, beautiful land are crucial to all human life -- and a town who values all of these things is a town to be appreciated indeed. Way to go Norman.

Sue Clancy and Judy Sellens